Car sharing programs in Hyde Park

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Chicago is gearing
up to install battery car recharge stations. CMAP says:
A Positive Charge. This week, the City of Chicago announced it will use ARRA
funds to install more than 280 charging stations for electric cars throughout
the city and suburbs in 2011. Some of the stations will be used for car sharing
programs like I-GO, which plans to offer a discount on electric vehicles in
its fleet. The public charging stations will allow increased use of electric
vehicles, which, as the Tribune points out, are a good choice for an urban environment
like metropolitan Chicago, where average trips are under 40 miles -- well within
the 100-mile range for most electric car batteries.

The U of C now
gives free memberships in I-GO and Zipcar (*which has now joined in the car
sahring market in Chicago and Hyde Park) to employees. The cars are in Lexington,
Kimbark (by the Lab School/GSB), and Pierce lots.On campus there
are at least 14 Zipcars in addition to those of I-GO and others. A limited number
are available to those univerity-affilited who are aged 18 - 21. Share car was
expanded even further by the U of C.

Rep. Currie
announced Nov. 15, 2010: "Courtesy of I-GO, our nonprofit car-sharing program,
I had a chance to drive the all-electric Mitsubishi i-Miev last month. I-GO
plans to add 30 all-electrics to its current fleet of 250 fuel-efficient cars.
I-GO, an affiliate of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, is focused on
reducing the number of cars on city streets and cutting down pollution. The
car was a treat to drive, but it's unbelievably quiet. I worry that, without
adding a bell or a whistle, an unsuspecting pedestrian could be in trouble.
The biggest problem with the electric car is the need for car-charging stations.
Home chargers are impracticable. Some gasoline stations are looking into the
opportunity to install them, and the City of Chicago has asked companies to
bid to provide them. The bid includes 36 car-chargers for I-GO."

________________________

I-Go
Carsharing was adopted locally and incubated by Center for Neighborhood
Technology through a federal transportation grant, with a growing list of partners,
including CTA, Metra and the Chicago Area Transportation Study. In the last
two years, it has grown to nearly 50 cars and 1700 members and is poised to
reach breakeven sustainability with 80 cars in 2005. It is nonprofit. While
the most saturated areas are on the North Side, especially along the Red Line
from Harrison to Rogers Park, it has five ? car park locations in Hyde Park
with potential to grow--especially since a sticker can now be placed on ones
CTA transit card making a car-bus-train trip seamless. Besides, its a boon to
transit use and getting cars (and emissions-congestion) off the roads. It started
in Europe, where there are now 200,000 members and jumped the pond 6 years ago--available
in 12 regions around the country.

I-GO received in spring
2006 a federal QMAC grant to add 60 cars further into the city and at least
one suburb (Evanston) and increase density in currently-served areas. New technology
will be added for tracking and availability.

Save Money, Simplify
Your Life. Reserve a car by the hour when YOU need it, pick it up right in YOUR
Neighborhood.

What is I-GO? Pay-per-hour
sharing service that gives you the convenience and flexibility of owning a car
without the cost and hassles. Members have 24-hour access to I-GO cars located
in their communities, in reserved parking spaces. Cars can be reserved by phone
or on-line at www. igocars.org
for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Why use I-GO?

Saves Money. Pay only
when you drive. Includes insurance, gas, maintenance and cleaning.

Convenient. Cars ar
located in your neighborhood and are available 24/7.

Each I-GO car reduces
congestion by up to 10 cars a year, a net savings in CO2 of up to 200K pounds
a year.

New opportunities: Parking
cashout> savings for cities, developers and buyers get a bonus and housing
costs decrease. Future: City fleet replacements, moe integration with transit
systems.

1000 cars takes 10000
off the road.

Results in Chicago so far

32% of members experienced
decrease in sole-rider vehicle use

21% decreased their
use of a vehicle with others

23% report increasing
use of public transportation

40% report giving up
or postponing purchasing a vehicle. After all, cars are a poor
investment and transportation is the second highest family budget item (while
saving declines) --and are mostly used for short, non-income earning trips.

New ideas:

Campus car (in use at
Portland State.) - a comprehensive program to establish a campus-wide car
sharing network; a cost-effective way to help reduce parking demand, support
other commute modes. also increased popularity of employee transit program,
reduced pressure on limited parking, increased options. New buildings could
be built parking free!

Who is eligible
to become a member? Applicants
must be between 21-75 years old, have a valid driver's license and have been
driving at least 5 years, a good driving record and a valid credit or debit
card.

What does it cost
to join? It
costs a total of $25 to join and there is a $25 annual renewal fee.
Application (one time) $25, Membership (one time) $50, Annual Renewal fee $25.

What does it cost
to use? Standard Plan $6 an hour and $.50 a mile.Usage fees-
per hour 7 am-11 pm $6, night free; per mile $.50.

Is there a plan
that offers free miles? The Standard Plus Plan costs $9.20 an
hour and includes 20 free miles. There are three prepaid monthly plans:
the GO 10 ($85 a month has 10 hours and 100 miles), the GO 15 ($135 a month
wit 15 hours and 150 miles) and the GO 25 ($225 a month with 25 hours and 250
miles.) Also 50 and 100 plans esp. for business. Now, an all-day rate plan
$60 with 200 free miles for special vehicles. Also discounts available.

When is I-GO for
me? If you

Don't have a car and
have an occasional need for one.

Drive less than 10,000
miles a year.

Commute to work by biking,
walking or using CTA/Metra.

Need or use a second
car infrequently.

Note-non transferable
(i.e., spouse cannot drive) due to insurance. But referral joiners earn you
a $20 credit if they qualify.

Reserving: 866
446-7372 or www.igocars.org. From minutes to weeks in advance, using a car near
you or any car in the fleet.

Rep.
Barbara Flynn Currie (25th) touts carshare, says Illinois has a blocking tax
that is being worked around.

Hyde Park Herald July 12,
2006

Too many cars on the street?
Not enough places to park? Car sharing can help. The idea is that you don't
have to buy a car in order to have one when you need to keep a doctor's appointment
or do the weekly grocery shopping. Car sharing services, first developed in
Europe, keep people from buying the first car or adding a second to the family
fleet.

I-GO, launched by the Center
for Neighborhood Technology, is a not-for-profit car-sharing program that's
been operating in many Chicago communities since 2002. We have four different
I-GO stations in Hyde Park-Kenwood and one in South Shore. It costs $75 to join,
with a $25 annual membership fee. The charge is a flat $6 plus 50 cents mile,
which includes gas, insurance and 24-hour roadside assistance. Members reserve
cars over the web or the telephone. An electronic key card is remotely programmed
so the member can let himself or herself into the car--and start the engine.

The estimate is that every
shared car keeps more than 10 privately-owned cars off the street. Nationally
more than 40 percent of car sharers report they sold a car or decided against
buying one when car share came their way. Car sharing saves big bucks. Consider
the cost of a car, even used. And remember to add in maintenance, fuel and insurance.

Dar share works because
it's convenient, because it's reasonably priced and because it's available for
short-term use. Although our Chicago experience is based in the not-for-profit
sector, capitalists are interested as well. Several national companies are making
money as the car-share model becomes increasingly popular.

In other cities, however,
car sharing operations don't have to pay state rental car taxes.
Not so in Illinois, where state taxes threaten the viability of I-GO and present
an obstacle to car sharing companies otherwise interested in breaking into the
Chicago market. Zipcar, for example, is growing by leaps and bounds in Toronto,
Boston and San Francisco. But not in Chicago. Efforts to restructure the state
rental car tax, exempting membership operations whose goal is reducing private
car ownership, came up short in Springfield this session.

But I've been working with
the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to find another way
to encourage car sharing in our state. We won approval for a pilot grant
program, designed to offset the cost of the tax, that we hope will stabilize
I-GO and encouragecompanies like Zipcar to put Chicago
on their map.

I hope our incentives work.
We can use a few more parking spaces and a little more room on the roadways.
Perhaps most important, we can use fewer greenhouse emissions and fewer particulates
in the atmosphere--in short, we can all use cleaner air.

I-Go
to roll out more cars in Hyde Park, TIF Parking Committee told in November

Hyde Park Herald, Nov.
23 2005. By Erin Meyer

I-Go plans to double its
existing fleet of three cars in Hyde Park in 2006. But continued development
of the car-share program, like Hyde Park development on the whole, depends on
finding and reserving an adequate number of parking spaces.

I-Go representative Sharon
Feigon appealed to members of the 53rd Street Tax Increment Finance Council
at the Nov. 16 parking committee meeting to help them market the I-Go cars.

"If you live in an
area tha is really congested and it's a big hassle to park, car-sharing just
makes sense," said Feigon, who is I-Go's chief executive officer. "The
demand exists in Hyde Park. we just need help making sure the community knows
the program is available."

Committee members, grappling
with what many local business owners and residents recognize as a serious parking
shortage in the neighborhood, were openly receptive to I-Go's advances.

"One of those cars
can replace as many as 10 privately owned vehicles. And having fewer cars on
the road means less congestion," said urban planner Irene Sherr, who works
as a consultant for the parking committee. "The problem is people don't
know about the program."

The car-share program serves
people who need a car occasionally but do not want the added expense of buying,
maintaining and insuring a car. Monica Fabre, a 32-year-old who lives on South
Dorchester, has been an I-Go member since May. "I had a car and the engine
blew so I tried the program and it has worked for me," she said. Fabre
was happy to hear that I-Go planned to increase the size of their fleet. "It
seems like more people are using he cars. Having more would make spontaneous
drives more possible," Fabre said.

Licensed drivers with relatively
clean records can rent I-Go cars fro $6 and hour plus 50 cents per mile after
paying a $75 membership fee. The program started in 2002 as a pilot program
in Hyde Park and Edgewater with four cars. In the last year and a half I-Go
cars have increased in Chicago from 10 to 47, feigon said. Members now have
access to cars along the Red Line, all the way from Harrison to Howard streets
with a car ready for reservation every half mile.

It is the money saving
that sells people on car-sharing Feigon said. I-Go members spend less than a
third of the estimated $6,700 car owner spend on average each year for automobile
upkeep, insurance, parking and gas. Students, young professionals and retired
people comprise most of the 1,00 current I-go car-share members.

"We are really interested
in expanding on the South Side. We are working with IIT (Illinois Institute
of Technology)," Feigon said."We are going to to Bronzeville and South
Shore in 2006."

Sherr suggested reserving
a spot somewhere near the intersection of 53rd [51st?] and Lake Park Avenue
because it is near public transportation and enjoys a lot of foot traffic. "If
we had the parking spaces tomorrow we could have the cars available immediately,"
Feigon said.

Sherr and I-Go also planned
to meet Monday with Pete Richter, managing director of Regents Park Apartments,
5020 S. Lake Shore Dr., to talk about reserving a parking space in the building
for tenants.